Playlist Friday: National Indigenous Peoples Day

Our playlist today is in celebration of the newly named National Indigenous Peoples Day which was formerly called National Aboriginal Day. It may have been a couple days ago but I think we can still celebrate the great music from our Indigenous people of Canada.

21 June was chosen as the statutory holiday for many reasons-including its cultural significance as the Summer solstice, and the fact that it is a day on which many Aboriginal groups traditionally celebrate their heritage.

Aboriginal people (First Nations, Inuit, Métis) who reside in what is now Canada have diverse cultural traditions that are reflected in the variety of their musical genres and styles. Music is generally seen as an integral part of the daily life and spiritual beliefs of Indigenous people in Canada. The diversity of Aboriginal life and music in Canada has been recognized by scholars who attempted to classify people according to “culture areas,” which were also applied to music made by people in each area. Aboriginal people have their own distinct musical traditions, repertoire, and meanings. As well, genres of music have emerged that traverse boundaries and are performed by Indigenous musicians across North America. Some generalizations are that traditional Aboriginal music is predominantly vocal, with drums, rattles and flutes serving as common instruments. As well, Aboriginal musicians have been influenced by non-Aboriginal music-making, often adopting other musical styles (such as country music and pop) and instruments (guitars, fiddles). (Source: The Canadian Encyclopedia)

With Canada 150 celebrations coming up and many feeling colonialism and indigenous genocide aren’t really anything to celebrate, I felt it important to hear their voices this week and to keep it in mind. Many of the songs on the playlist have messages from the indigenous perspective reminding us of the truth of Canada’s history and the reality of the long lasting effects. These artists certainly have me thinking about it but I will let their lyrics do the talking. So listen and hear what these indigenous musicians have to say.

Not every song on the playlist has a political message. There are some traditional songs and modern songs and a mix of them too. Mostly it is just 2 1/2 hours of great music for you to enjoy and I hope you do.

Tanya Tagaq is finally coming to Regina in November. I would love to see her live show. Fierce!

GarfieldUK
June 23, 2017 at 10:58

She is performing at the Canada Day party in London this year as well

darbarspecial
June 23, 2017 at 11:03

Awesome. And in Regina our headliner is…Marianas Trench. :-/

Library Voices, Colter Wall and The Dead South are playing before that though. 😀

GarfieldUK
June 23, 2017 at 11:12

We have
3:55 Safia Nolin
5:00 Daniel Caesar
6:05 Tanya Tagaq
7:10 Pup

justingrady
June 23, 2017 at 11:37

Nice and sunny here in Bend…. 24°C

darbarspecial
June 23, 2017 at 11:38

Nice line up Garf.

That is perfect weather for my likings Justin. Enjoy!

GarfieldUK
June 23, 2017 at 11:42

we are currently around 17°C

Benoit from Ottawa
June 23, 2017 at 11:43

Ottawa’s having an overage of fests right now. Not even delving into the electronic dance music festival at Lansdowne, there’s the free Dragonboat Fest that virtually slipped right by me — well, last night, I entirely missed The Elwins, Said the Whale* and The Sheepdogs. And I’m going to miss tonight and tomorrow night too, having decided to hear the New Swears tonight (Targ) and the Ramblin’ Valley Band at the Sheep tomorrow.

And I haven’t even looked at the francophone side of things: it’s la Fête Nationale, as Saint-Jean-Baptiste is now known in Québec.

*Voiced the Cetacean?

GarfieldUK
June 23, 2017 at 11:44

and it’s not even raining at Glastonbury (yet)

darbarspecial
June 23, 2017 at 12:06

An abundance of music Benoit!

Benoit from Ottawa
June 23, 2017 at 12:09

Wouldn’t want to rain on the sparkletits… Not sure exactly what they’re called, but there is this thing, apparently…